The Lost Testament

What Christians Don't Know About Christ

Sayed Mahdi Modarresi

• Publisher: Enlight Foundation
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9780994240989
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

They have been closely guarded for centuries.. Painstakingly and meticulously preserved at great risk to their keepers. Now, they are being revealed to the world, giving a glimpse of who Jesus really was and providing timeless answers for timely questions. Renowned scholar, Sayed M. Modarresi, searches for the lost words of Christ within other religious traditions, uncovering words that have been lost for two-thousand years. Bequeathed by the heirs of Abraham through Ishmael and his descendants far from the political turmoil of Roman Judea, the social upheaval of the early church, and — crucially — the perversion of opportunistic impostors. These passages reveal a different side to Jesus, transforming the prevalent image of a placid spiritual healer to a radical transformer who challenged the status quo with a vexatious pose reminiscent of a revolutionary. In a world marred by hate, inequality, and corruption, the lost words of Christ are a felicitous contribution to public discourse and a must read for his followers, as well as anyone searching for the unsullied truth about Jesus and his newfangled worldview. Providing short reflections on each quotation, the author shares these insightful epigrams and attempts to exalt humanity to its uppermost potential using the sagacious vision of one of the most influential men to have ever walked the earth.

Notes

[←1 ] 

 Q is short for German Quelle. It means “source” (that is, the source for much of Matthew’s and Luke’s sayings material). Modern biblical scholars assert the sayings of Jesus from Q were rephrased to avoid misunderstandings, and to fit the authors’ own situations and their understanding of what Jesus had really meant. For more, refer to the International Q Project 

[←2 ] 

 A passage of the Quran is dedicated to this very issue. If Mary was a virgin, then only a divine miracle could have caused her pregnancy. But for a community of unbelievers there had to be a better explanation than a miracle! How did she escape Judaic laws of being stoned to death for the crime of fornication? The Bible provides no guidance on the matter. Yet the Quran tells of a miracle, which puts the entire argument to rest. God instructs Mary to observe a speech fast. For three days she is not to utter a single word. This, compounded by bearing a child out of wedlock only fuels the curiosity of the Rabbis and Bethlehem as a whole: “And if thou meetest any mortal, say: Lo! I have vowed a fast unto the Beneficent, and may not speak this day to any mortal. (26) Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing. (27) O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot. (28) Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? (29) He spake: Lo! I am the slave of God. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet, (30) And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive, (31) And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest. (32) Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! (33) Such was Jesus, son of Mary” - See Chapter ‘Mary’, 19:26-34 

[←3 ] 

 The New Testament itself indicates that the Gospel writers had “sources” for their accounts. In Luke 1:1-4, for example, the author states that “many” predecessors had written an account of the things Jesus said and did, and that after reading them and consulting with “eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,” he decided to produce his own account, one which he says is, in contrast to the others, “accurate.” In other words, Luke had both written and oral sources for the events he narrates—he was not himself an observer of Jesus’s earthly life. The same was probably true of the other Gospel writers as well. - Ehrman, 2005 

 

[←4 ] 

 It is not my intention, for the purposes of this collection, to establish the historical authenticity of the epithets. For an in-depth discussion of the topic, refer to ‘Authenticating the Four Books’, Namazi Shahroudi, 2008 

[←5 ] 

 4:156-159 

[←6 ] 

 3:55 

[←7 ] 

 94:4 

[←8 ] 

 4:41-42 

[←9 ] 

 4:171 

[←10 ] 

 6:85 

[←11 ] 

 4:171 

[←12 ] 

 4:172 

[←13 ] 

 4:172 

[←14 ] 

 3:38 

[←15 ] 

 3:38-48 

[←16 ] 

 2:87 

[←17 ] 

 2:253 

[←18 ] 

 19:29-30 

[←19 ] 

 See Appendix One; Heirs of Christ 

Table of contents

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